Orange You Glad I'm Paying Attention

As a college football fan living a few miles outside of Boston, my options for watching big time football are few and far between. Sure, Boston College makes a little bit of noise on the national level every once in a while. Just last year, BC won eleven games and their quarterback Matt Ryan was mentioned as a Heisman candidate. They had a chance to play in the Orange Bowl but were beaten by Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game and ended up playing in the Champs Sports Bowl. But other than the occassional BC team, football in the northeast is pretty weak. However, there was a time when a football team from the northeast was a true contender. They played their home games in front of 50,000 screaming maniacs, they consistently played and won major New Years Day bowl games, and sent their top players to the NFL. That school is Syracuse. In the name of all college football fans in the northeast who want to watch a BCS bowl game that has one of our own teams playing, it is time for Syracuse to change head coaches and bring in the one man who can return the Orangemen back to national contenders. That man is Chip Kelly, the current offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon. Kelly is the perfect candidate to make Syracuse the dominant team in the Big East and a national powerhouse. He is an offensive genius. When he was calling the offense at his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, it was always worth the 50 minute ride to Durham to see the innovative schemes designed by Kelly that made the Wildcats a contender in the FCS (formerly 1-AA) ranks. His last quarterback at UNH, Ricky Santos, won the Walter Payton Award that goes to the top offensive player at the FCS level under the direction of Kelly. Kelly's work at UNH did not go unnoticed. He replaced Gary Crowton at Oregon after the 2006 season and the jump to FBS has given Kelly's talents the national stage that they deserved. In 2007, the Oregon Ducks were ranked as high as #2 in the country as a result of the dynamic offense Kelly brought to Eugene. Quarterback Dennis Dixon was a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy and Oregon had legitimate hopes of winning the national championship before Dixon suffered a serious knee injury, ending his season. Kelly's offense still set the single season records at Oregon for points (38.15 per game) and total offense (467.54 per game) in 2007 and the team went on to crush South Florida (a member of the Big East) in the Sun Bowl by a score of 56 - 21. In the Sun Bowl, Oregon amassed 25 first downs, 353 rushing yards, 180 passing yards (behind former fourth-string QB Justin Roper), and saw 2008 NFL first round pick Jonathan Stewart rush for 253 yards and one touchdown. If Syracuse chooses to replace Greg Robinson, who is an underwhelming 8 - 33 since becoming the head man at the 'Cuse in 2005, then there will be plenty of candidates lining up for a job that is potentially one of the best in the country. Lane Kiffin, formerly of the Oakland Raiders, will be mentioned. Turner Gill of nearby Buffalo and former UMass coach Mark Whipple will have their names tossed into the mix. Florida assistant coach Steve Addazio and New Orleans Saints assistant coaches Joe Vitt and Ed Orgeron will also be on the list. No candidate fits as well as Kelly. Kelly has ties to the east coast from his days at UNH, when he regularly mined talent rich New Jersey and Pennsylavania for players and has forged ties on the west coast in his tenure at Oregon. Kelly has proven he can recruit with the big boys -- Oregon was a finalist for current Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor based on Kelly's affiliation with the Ducks. A quick look at his page on the recruiting mega-site Rivals shows Kelly is involved with some of the top players from Texas, California, and Florida. If the faithful in Syracuse want to return to the days of playing in the Orange, Fiesta, and Sugar Bowl games then Chip Kelly is the only candidate. He can recruit the next Donovan McNabb to play quarterback, the next Marvin Harrison to play receiver, and the next Ernie Davis, Jim Brown and Jim Nance to run the ball. His coaching resume proves he build a championship-caliber offense. If Syracuse athletic director Dr. Daryl Gross wants his school to be a real contender once again, the only option is Chip Kelly.